“Summer vacations,” said Hoffman, a special assistant with the Padres since his retirement. “My mom would go down to Sears and wait in line for Ticketron to book a campsite at Cardiff, then south Carlsbad. We’d go to the rental place and get a hitch put on the Cadillac or whatever car we had at the time, hook up a small trailer and go for our week of camping at the beach.

“I was a boogie-boarder. My older brother’s a surfer, so he knew all about the reefs, knew all about swami’s. It was always late July or August, no June gloom. Mom always good weather for us.”

Occasionally, they’d even take in a Padres game in Mission Valley, the ballpark where Trevor Hoffman might’ve envisioned himself playing shortstop. That was his position growing up, the position he was playing when drafted out of the University of Arizona.

“I saw him in college and put in my scouting report, “Hey, he’d be a great guy to convert to catcher,’ “ said Smith. “I’ve told Trevor, “I had the conversion part right. I just had you at the wrong end of the battery.’ ”

Arriving in San Diego with two major league saves, Hoffman’s next 902 appearances were with the Padres, making him the National League record-holder for games pitched with one club. (Mariano Rivera, the only pitcher with more career saves than Hoffman, holds the big league record with his 1,042 appearances for the New York Yankees.)

His fastball and command likely would made him a dominant reliever wherever he pitched, but just as it was in the San Diego surf that Hoffman first sustained a major shoulder injury that made people wonder if he’d ever regain full velocity, it was with the Padres that he learned the changeup grip and and turned it into one of baseball’s nastiest pitches.

To be sure, too, San Diego was a place where the role of closer had extra meaning and appreciation. Partly due to their performance with the Padres, Rollie Fingers and Goose Gossage both are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Left-handed curveballer Mark Davis became the rare reliever to win a Cy Young Award.

In his later years, Hoffman became the role model and mentor for Heath Bell, who succeeded him and became a two-time All-Star after Hoffman signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“There aren’t many organizations with that litany of relievers to lean on and the lineage of success,” said Hoffman. “The closer almost became an association with the organization. People here say “You’re expected to perform at a high level in this role, and we will love you, and we will praise you, and we will appreciate what you do.” ”